


Tastes like no other

by un_petit_peu_de_moi



Category: One Piece
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 17:21:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9133849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/un_petit_peu_de_moi/pseuds/un_petit_peu_de_moi
Summary: Sanji had sworn to himself back when he was a kid : he'd never let anyone starve to death, even less so his captain.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Ah well, this isn't spoiler-free, but I might have not complied very well with the canon. It's supposed to be set before Sanji discovers Pudding is no one's ally but her own.

Sanji makes up a lie. It’s not a good one but they don’t really care where he goes, as long as he’s there for the wedding, and there’s something around his wrist to make sure that he will.

 

He finds them in the dungeons, down several pairs of stairs, between cold stones and old iron bars. It smells of humidity and shit; Sanji doubt anyone ever bothered to clean the place.

 

He hears them talking – arguing more like – and he can recognize the distress in Nami’s high-pitched voice as she orders Luffy to stop.

 

Sanji walks calmly up to their cell and the both of them stop, look up, watch. Luffy’s wrists are bleeding, his arms stretched, like he’s trying to get away from his cuffs. Sanji frowns. What did he did to deserve such an idiot of a captain?

 

He crouches down and puts what he’s carrying down – a plate of food he took from the kitchen.

 

“Here, eat,” he says.

 

“Now you care whether we’re fed or not Sanji?” Nami says coldly, and it hurts, that she doesn’t call him Sanji-kun, that she regards him like he’s the enemy, even though it’s exactly what he wanted.

 

It’s not what he wants.

 

“I’d never let anyone starve to death.”

 

Nami doesn’t answer, looks coldly at him and Sanji reads it in her eyes, _there’s a lot of things you said_ _you wouldn’t do_.

 

“I don’t want it,” his captain finally says, losing interest in the conversation and turning back to the task on hand--- said task being to apparently tear off his arms from the cuffs to escape.

 

Sanji’s heart skips a beat. Luffy is his captain, Sanji should lose his limbs ten times before allowing _Luffy_ to lose even a finger.

 

“What are you doing?” he asks, hopes he hid the worry in his voice. “Eat fucking idiot.”

 

“Don’t wanna,” Luffy answers, not looking back, not stopping.

 

“You moron-”

 

“I said,” Luffy says, louder than his own voice. “I wouldn’t eat anything unless Sanji did it.” He closes his mouth, pouts, looks like a kid, is a kid. “The future king of pirate can only eat things made from the best cook in the world,” he says, with that voice of his, that confidence of his, when he sprouts the most ridiculous thing but he expects them to be true.

 

He said Sanji will become the best cook in the world and he expects it to be true.

 

Meanwhile he gets laughed at by his family for having a dream, and the only person who believes in him, who trusts him blindly, who _wants_ him-- he’s behind bars and Sanji beat him up a day before.

 

“I did it,” he lies. “I did it, so will you eat it?”

 

Luffy looks back, tilts his head. “Really?”

 

He shouldn’t be insisting. Shouldn’t have come here. Nami’s face has already softened, she must have recognized worry in his insistence. Sanji shouldn’t be there, he knows anything he does is a sign for Luffy, but he’d promised, he’d promised himself he’d never let anyone starve to death on his watch.

 

(He can’t let _Luffy_ starve to death on his watch.)

 

“Yeah,” Sanji nods.

 

Luffy is naive enough, he stretches his arm further to get closer to the bars and opens his mouth wide.

 

Sanji shoves a spoon into his mouth and watches Luffy’s big mouth swallow it whole, the silver handle poking out of his round cheeks. Sanji pulls the spoon out annoyingly, doesn’t want Luffy to swallow the cutlery, _again_.

 

Luffy’s munches on the content of his mouth, his round cheeks moving-- he looks like a rodent. He looks disgusting. Sanji does his best not to let his lips smile fondly.

 

And then Luffy frowns and spits it right out.

 

“What the-” he watches Luffy coughs, almost retching to spill the food out. “What the hell are you doing idiot?!”

 

“This isn’t Sanji’s food!” Luffy exclaims, and he looks angry. “I said I’d only eat Sanji’s food!”

 

“I told you I did it myself idiot,” Sanji relents, his brow twitching in annoyance. How could the idiot know whether it’s his food or not?

 

“It’s not! This is not Sanji’s food!”

 

“How could a tasteless idiot like you know anything about food?” Sanji repeats, his voice growing louder, angrier. “I’m telling you I did it; you don’t like my food now?!”

 

“Liar!” Luffy shouts, pressing his forehead against the bars to glare at him. “I could recognize Sanji’s food anywhere and this is not Sanji’s food! I said I won’t eat anything unless Sanji makes it,” he repeats, drawing back, and turning his back to him, pouting, for all intents and purposes.

 

Sanji can’t move for a few seconds, staring at Luffy’s back.

 

Could an idiot like him, whose definition of gastronomy is a big bone of meat, actually recognize his cooking among others? He never pays attention to the most delicate meals, the one he serves Nami and Robin, the one that take hours to prepare. How could he have an idea? How could he know?

 

His hearts beats faster and he feels weird. Something in his stomach, he doesn’t know what it is, at the idea that his captain can recognize _his_ cooking.

 

He remembers where he is and straightens up, his eyes meeting Nami’s all-knowing gaze. She’s studying him like she knows what he’s thinking and Sanji can’t have that.

 

“Fine,” he finally says, picking up the food and standing back up. “Starve then”, he says derisively.

 

But it’s a lie, because even he knows he’ll be back here to feed them.

 

 

–

 

 

In fact, he’s back two hours later.

 

Sneaking into the kitchen to cook had been an incredible hardship. He’d bumped into one of his brother on his way here and the jeers hurt as much as when he’d been a kid. Thankfully, no one had seen him cook, or leave the kitchen with food hidden in a bag.

 

He was careful, discreet as he made his way back to the dungeons, back down the slippery, dirty stairs.

 

When he sees him, Luffy laughs.

 

“ _Shishishishi_ , told you he’d be back!” he laughs, and Nami only looks slightly annoyed. “Did you cook for us?” Luffy says, leaning towards the bar eagerly.

 

“I didn’t-- I cooked for myself yeah? Because the food here is disgusting.” It’s not a lie but it’s not the truth either. “I just bought the leftovers, better than waste it in the trash.”

 

He sits down and takes the food out of his bag. Luffy’s nostrils open and close several times, sniffing the air.

 

“Smells delicious~~” he moans, saliva already at the corner of his mouth.

 

Sanji’s brows tick. “You’re disgusting,” he says, and this is bad, this is way too easy to act like usual, to get back into those daily interactions they have on theirs. Sanji shouldn’t be down there but he can’t not be down there.

 

He takes a spoon and pushes it towards Luffy.

 

“Here.”

 

Luffy snaps his teeth around the spoon. He closes his eyes and Sanji watches him swallow. Luffy opens his eyes, smiles widely, “This is Sanji’s food!”

 

“I told you idiot,” Sanji says, is surprised he has to fight a blush at the thought his captain really does recognize his cooking.

 

He stays with them for fifteen minute maybe, hand-feeding Nami and Luffy through the bars of their cell. It’s not enough, of course not enough for Luffy’s inhuman appetite, not even enough for Nami.

 

Still, when there’s nothing left of the food and Sanji scraped all the food from the plates, Luffy grins widely sand says “Thanks Sanji, it was super good!”

 

Nami smiles and nods, “Thank you, Sanji-kun.”

 

Sanji knows it’s not enough, knows they need more but they’re smiling at him like it’s everything.

 

These days he doesn’t even know why he wants to cry.

 

“Yeah well, don’t expect anymore of me,” he says, getting up and dusting off his pants. He takes a cigarette and put it to his lips, lighting it and there, he feels a bit calmer, a bit more in control.

 

“But Sanji will be back tomorrow right? Because Sanji won’t let anyone starve,” Luffy grins, happy and sure of himself.

 

Sanji snorts. “Keep dreaming moron,” he says. And the thing is, Sanji would, he’d come back again and again. But tomorrow is the wedding and after that-- after that he’s not sure he’ll be a free man. After that he’s not sure what happens. He doesn’t want to know what happens.

 

He walks away, hand in his pocket, taking a long drag from his cigarette.

 

“See you later Sanji!” Luffy screams from the cell. “I can’t wait until we find All Blue together!”

 

Sanji’s eyes prickle with tears. It’s probably the smoke.

 

 


End file.
